Coming off the third state championship in school history, the Zeeland West football team began its title defense when it opened practice Monday.

The Dux lost a senior class that won two state titles, and reached the second round of the state playoffs the other two years.

It is a new season and a new team, Zeeland West coach John Shillito said.

"I think the challenge is to make sure that we understand it is a long process," Shillito said. "We can talk about those kinds of things a little bit, but it is such a long road that it has to be step by step. The coaching staff is doing a good job of focusing on right now, and the kids are doing a good job, too."

It is extremely difficult to defend a state title, but the Dux avoided a letdown season after the two previous titles.

After winning the title in 2006, the Dux advanced to the state semifinals the next year, falling to Detroit Country Day — this year's Week 1 opponent.

The Dux won again in 2011 and made it back to the playoffs and lost in the second round to Grand Rapids Christian.

Needless to say, the Dux are confident they will have a strong season after going 13-1.

"We have a lot of guys that love football," junior quarterback Casey Brinks said. "I think we are going to have a good year. It is still a long way to our first game, but we will be ready."

Despite losing a large senior class that included all-state players Jordan VanDort, Danny Bauder — The Sentinel's Co-Offensive Players of the Year — along with Defensive Player of the Year Grant Postma, the Dux return a group of seniors with a lot of experience on both sides of ball, led by lineman Smith Saenbouttarath, Trevor Raby and Zach VanValkenburg.

"We have a group of senior linemen who kind of bring their lunch pail to work, open it up and go at it. They play with great effort. That is a senior group of guys that are tough-minded, pretty athletic," Shillito said. "It is a bunch of 225-pound guys that play hard. Those guys are the leaders on this team and will be our driving force."

The leadership is something Brinks has appreciated as an underclassmen starting quarterback.

"We lost a lot of guys, but we have a lot of guys coming back," Brinks said. "The seniors are good leaders and they will help the younger guys."

Shillito said he is looking for one thing out of his players from day one.

"The biggest thing for us is effort. That is the key to everything we do. We practice with great effort. We play with great effort," Shillito said. "We have to focus on doing what we have to do to get better each day."